Merkel pressures Amazon over neo-Nazi claims

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's government has demanded an explanation from online retailer Amazon Germany after a television documentary showed seasonal workers being harassed by black-clad security guards with alleged neo-Nazi links.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's government has demanded an explanation from online retailer Amazon Germany after a television documentary showed seasonal workers being harassed by black-clad security guards with alleged neo-Nazi links.

The employment minister, Ursula von der Leyen (pictured), threatened that if the programme's accusations proved true she would cancel the licences of companies contracted by Amazon to find temporary workers and provide site security.

The documentary, screened by the German channel ARD, showed how Spanish seasonal workers employed by Amazon were subjected to constant surveillance by black-clad security guards from a firm called HESS.

Employees were said to have had their kitchens and bedrooms searched and were frisked to check whether they had stolen bread. One woman said she was thrown out of her accommodation for drying clothes on a wall heater.